For Pens, everything Maatta now

PITTSBURGH – Olli Maatta’s first career three-point night lasted less than an hour.

The 19-year-old defenseman had an assist taken away by the NHL scorers shortly after a 5-2 win over Minnesota gave the Penguins their sixth straight win.

It’s about the only thing that’s gone wrong for the rookie in his first 37 games in the NHL.

The latest impressive moment for the Finnish defenseman came at the tail end of a 5-on-3 power play for the Wild in the third period. Maatta came out of the penalty box and took a lead pass from Zach Sill, tried to get a shot off then was hooked on the play to draw the penalty shot.

“I was really nervous, I can tell you that,” Maatta said. “(Pascal Dupuis) told me to check my stick if it’s broken or not. That would have been embarrassing.”

His stick was fine. Maatta slipped the puck past Niklas Backstrom to become the second defenseman in Penguins history to score on a penalty shot.

“I was laughing like heck as he was going down. They called the penalty shot, and I had an even bigger smile on my face when he scored,” defense partner Matt Niskanen said. “That’s a cool moment for a 19-year old kid, especially the way he’s been playing and the responsibility he has for his young age.”

With his mother in the stands for the first time, Maatta played 21:46, including significant minutes on the penalty kill. It was his fourth straight game of more than 20 minutes, including a season-high 28:06 Wednesday night against the Rangers.

There were once some doubts whether Maatta would last past the initial nine-game stretch of the season before the Penguins could send him back to his junior team without burning a contract year. Not now.

Maatta’s progression has been so eye-opening to observers that he’s now being talked about as an option for Finland in the Olympics. Future Hall of Famer Teemu Selanne voiced his support when Anaheim came to town recently, and Penguins teammate Jussi Jokinen also believes Maatta could land on the roster.

He’s also starting to make a case for a Calder Trophy nomination as the league’s best rookie. San Jose forward Tomas Hertl’s goal scoring has generated the most buzz, but Matta’s 11 points ranks third among rookie defenseman, and his performance compares favorably to that of Boston’s Torey Krug (18 points) and Nashville’s Seth Jones (10 points). Jones has the edge with a larger role on special teams, but with all the injuries, Maatta is now doing the same.

The Penguins were getting reports from as early as February that Maatta was NHL ready then. After starting him off on a steady diet of 14-to-16 minutes per night, he’s progressed to the point where his role will remain large even when everyone is healthy.

“The confidence and steadiness with which he’s played, the consistency with which he’s played, has maybe been the best in the last three or four games,” Dan Bylsma said.

The way things are going for Maatta, it may just be a sign of things to come.

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